Dodgers’ Crypto-Like Dip: Ohtani Struggles Post-Paternity Leave as Team Slides
Los Angeles faces a bear market in wins as superstar Shohei Ohtani returns rusty—proving even MVP-caliber assets need liquidity events.
The Dodgers’ slump mirrors a meme coin correction: sudden, brutal, and leaving bagholders asking ’wen rebound?’ Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts suggest the team’s $1.2B payroll performs like an overleveraged DeFi protocol.
As hard as it may be to believe, it appears that Los Angeles Dodgers star and two-way legend Shohei Ohtani is human after all. The Japanese baseball hero, who has continuously displayed otherworldly talents, has not returned from his paternity leave firing on all cylinders, and that’s enough to set the MLB pundits into something of a frenzy.
The 30-year-old posted astounding numbers over the course of his five years at the Los Angeles Angels, securing multiple MLB All-Star picks and MVP awards, before signing a mammoth $700 million deal to MOVE to Dodger Stadium in December 2023. He promptly helped his team to a World Series triumph in 2024 and, following elbow surgery, is now starting to make use of both his talents, namely pitching and hitting.
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Shohei, understandably, took time off after his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, gave birth to their first child on April 19th. Ohtani, no doubt thrilled by the arrival of his first daughter, took two games off as part of paternity leave, but his offensive FORM since then, unsurprisingly, has dipped.
He returned for the third and final game of a run against the Texas Rangers, but did not manage to get a base hit at Arlington, and only managed to do so once in the two-game series against the Chicago Cubs afterwards.
Manager Dave Roberts has since offered an assessment on his star player, stating.
“He had a fastball to hit and just got too big with the swing, where all you need is a base hit right there,” Roberts told Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register, adding, “I think a little bit this series, and even that last game in Texas, when he came back, there was a little over-aggressiveness. The swing is a little bit longer than it typically is.”
“I don’t know if he’s trying to do something, trying too hard. There are a couple of walks in there. But there are other times where he’s getting himself out instead of taking a walk if given to him.” Roberts added.
His teammate, Mookie Betts, also commented on the misfiring run, albeit doing so in a more human manner than Roberts, opting to consider the overall picture, i.e. Ohtani is not a machine, although over the years he has appeared to be almost non-human when it comes to what he has achieved.
“He’s human,”
“I think we’re all so accustomed to him never doing anything bad. Tomorrow, he can hit four homers,” further noting, “He’s one of those people who may go through a stretch, but we’ve all seen the other side of it.” Betts concluded.
This line of approach is perhaps a fairer one to take. When you consider just how remarkably consistent Ohtani has been since leaving Japan to join the MLB, it is actually quite astonishing and he has set all manner of records, and to have a few weeks of average displays, well that’s perhaps something that should be, on occasion, expected, not least after a momentous life-changing event, such as becoming a father.
